


Goodbye, SpongeBob

by sarahgirl1998



Category: SpongeBob SquarePants (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Cancer, Character Death, Death, Deathfic, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sad, Tearjerker, Terminal Illnesses, Tragedy, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 20:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16772353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: The worst thing is happening to SpongeBob. Worse than getting fired. Worse than having the secret formula taken by Plankton. Worse than anything he's ever been through.He's terminal.





	Goodbye, SpongeBob

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: If SpongeBob was a major part of your childhood, I wouldn't recommend this to you. At all.
> 
> If you want to know why I wrote this, it's because Stephen Hillenburg died. Almost all of us - and me - are taking it really hard. But it's a sad truth. Eventually, we're all going to die. Think of this fanfic as a memorial of Stephen and his wonderful show.

Bikini Bottom had seen its dark days, as did any town. But the darkest day of all was the day on which SpongeBob was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The day began like any other, at first. SpongeBob was at the Krusty Krab, delivering a freshly made Krabby Patty to a patron - his best friend Patrick. But after that, as SpongeBob was making his way back to the kitchen, he suddenly blacked out and fell to the floor.

Everybody gasped, including Patrick. He put down his Krabby Patty and ran to SpongeBob in concern.

"SpongeBob!" Patrick cried.

He picked SpongeBob up in his arms and looked at him. His eyes were slightly open but no pupil moved.

"Are you okay?!" Patrick asked. No response.

Just then, Mr. Krabs came bursting out of his office.

"What the barnacles is going on here?!"

But then he saw Patrick holding SpongeBob and he gasped.

"Me fry cook!"

Mr. Krabs ran to the closest phone he could find and called 911.

"Hello, you've reached 911. What is the problem?"

"I need an ambulance sent to the Krusty Krab, right now!" said Mr. Krabs. "Someone here needs serious medical attention!"

"And who is that someone?"

"My best fry cook, SpongeBob Squarepants!" Mr. Krabs replied.

The fish on the other line gasped.

"Oh, my gosh! SpongeBob?! Don't worry, sir, an ambulance is on the way!"

What felt like a couple of hours later, SpongeBob slowly opened his eyes. He could tell he wasn't in the Krusty Krab anymore. He was in a bed in a hospital ward, with a doctor standing in front of him.

"Uuuuugh... w-what happened...?" SpongeBob asked, his voice barely audible and body weak.

"SpongeBob?" the doctor asked. "We came to save you as soon as Mr. Krabs called."

SpongeBob had to take a minute to let this sink in before he responded.

"But... w-why...?"

"While you were unconscious, we ran some tests to identify what was wrong with you," said the doctor. "But unfortunately, the final results are beyond bad."

"B-beyond bad?" SpongeBob clearly didn't like the sound of that. "How bad is it?"

The doctor took a deep breath and told the heartbreaking truth.

"SpongeBob Squarepants, you have terminal cancer."

SpongeBob's eyes widened and pupils shrunk. He had heard of cancer before; it could and would kill any fish who had it.

"Oh, my gosh...!" he said slowly.

"I know, and I am so sorry," the doctor replied.

"C-can't you cure it?" SpongeBob begged.

"I'm afraid we can't," the doctor said. "This is a terminal illness that can't be cured. We can use some scientific technology to prolong your life, but other than that, you are eventually going to die."

SpongeBob began to whimper and sniffle as tears filled his eyes. "No... it can't be... h-how much longer do I have?"

"Less than a month," said the doctor. "At least a week."

"One... WEEK?!?" SpongeBob finally burst into tears. "NOOOOHOHOHOHOHOOOOOO!!!"

A few minutes afterward, Patrick entered the hospital to visit SpongeBob. When the nurse took him to the hospital ward where he was, SpongeBob was still crying.

"SpongeBob, what's wrong?" Patrick asked in sympathy.

"Oh, hey, Patrick." SpongeBob was wiping his eyes with some tissues his doctor gave him. "Oh, it's horrible. You're gonna hate it..."

"What is it?" Patrick wanted to know.

"Patrick..." SpongeBob started, trying his best not to begin crying again. "I have... cancer..."

"What's cancer?" Patrick asked. Just then, SpongeBob's doctor whispered something to Patrick. Patrick then gasped in horror. "You're gonna do WHAT?!"

"I'm..." SpongeBob began to cry again. "I'M GONNA DIHIHIEEEEE!!!"

Patrick started to cry as well. Not long after the two of them had begun to express their sadness, the nurse put her hand on SpongeBob's shoulder.

"SpongeBob, you shouldn't cry too hard," she advised him. "Or else you could die even sooner!"

SpongeBob tried to calm down as he sniffled. "Sorry, Nurse..."

"But I don't want you to die, SpongeBob!" Patrick whimpered with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Star," said SpongeBob's doctor. "But the most you can do is spend as much time with your friend as you can before he... passes."

Patrick nodded in agreement. Then he looked down at SpongeBob.

"We did so much stuff together... We caught jellyfish, we blew bubbles... We played so, so much, all the time...!" Patrick sobbed.

"I know." SpongeBob replied as he sniffled. "And Patrick..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember the times when you were..." SpongeBob bit his lip before he finished. "...not as nice as you used to be?"

"Uh, no," Patrick said.

"Are you sure?" SpongeBob wanted to know. "Why don't you think back?"

And so Patrick thought back. Suddenly, a huge wave of memories came back to him. Memories where he acted like an idiotic jerk to SpongeBob. And they made Patrick cry even more.

"Oh, SpongeBob! You were right!" Patrick burst into tears. "What kind of person was I?! What was I thinking?! I am so, SO SORRY!"

Patrick hugged SpongeBob as they cried, the latter quietly, the former audibly.

"I'm so sorry, too..." SpongeBob said. "Especially for when I wasn't all that nice myself..."

"What am I gonna do without you, SpongeBob?" Patrick asked as he wiped his eyes with his hand. "What's any of us gonna do without you?!"

"I don't know, Patrick... I'm so sorry...!" SpongeBob sobbed audibly, but not loudly. He then blew his nose and rubbed it with a tissue.

"I know so many people. You, Squidward... Sandy... Mr. Krabs... G-Gary..."

The thought of his poor snail learning of his owner's impending death, let alone his cancer, made SpongeBob even sadder.

SpongeBob had to spend his final weeks in the hospital for treatment. But he let all of his family and friends visit him and told them just how much they meant to him. Not only that, they told him how much he meant to them as well. On the final day of SpongeBob's life, Patrick came to say goodbye to SpongeBob. He brought Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Sandy and Gary, who also wanted to bid their longtime friend farewell.

"S-SpongeBob?" Patrick said.

"Y-Yes...?" SpongeBob sounded barely anything like he used to.

"We're here to say goodbye to you," Patrick started.

"I can tell..." said SpongeBob.

"SpongeBob, if I knew something like this would happen, I wouldn't have been such a big jerk to you," said Squidward. "I am really, truly, seriously sorry for everything I've done to you."

"It's okay, Squidward," SpongeBob replied. "I always thought you were a nice guy deep down..."

"You were me best fry cook, SpongeBob," said Mr. Krabs. "Thank you so, so much for keeping the Krusty Krab alive for as long as you could. I don't know where I would've been without you.

SpongeBob smiled at his comment. "I don't know where I would've been without you, either."

"Mowww..." Gary meowed sadly. He was on the verge of tears as he crawled over to SpongeBob. Out of sympathy, the ailing sponge wrapped his arms around his loyal snail for a final hug.

"Thank you for being my pet, Gary," said SpongeBob. "This is the last time you'll hear me say this, but... I love you."

"Meow," Gary replied, meaning, "I love you, too, SpongeBob."

When SpongeBob finally let go of Gary, Sandy went up to SpongeBob.

"We're all gonna miss you, little square dude," Sandy said. "You were one'a the best friends I ever met. You were so brave, so funny... I just don't know howta go on..." She was on the verge of tears as well.

"Is there one last thing you want from us before you... you...?" Sandy couldn't finish her question, but SpongeBob knew what she wanted to say.

"Sandy..." SpongeBob whimpered. "C-come closer..."

Not knowing why he wanted her to do that, Sandy obliged. With the last of his strength, SpongeBob reached over to Sandy and planted a long, warm kiss right on her helmet. Sandy blushed a deep red as she did so, with everyone else watching in disbelief and amazement. It had become official. SpongeBob did love Sandy after all.

SpongeBob then pulled his lips away from her and lay back in bed. He was almost gone. He turned to Patrick for one final message.

"Patrick...?" SpongeBob asked.

"Yeah?" Patrick was just moments away from crying his head off.

"You... all of you... have given me... a wonderful life." SpongeBob gave a weak but warm smile. "I love you all."

He lay his head on his pillow as his eyes fell closed. The heart monitor gave a long, seemingly endless beep.

Squidward held hands with Mr. Krabs. Patrick held hands with Sandy. And for comfort, Gary climbed onto Patrick's shoulder. They all bent their heads down in mourning as tears streamed out of their eyes.

SpongeBob Squarepants had died. From this day onward, Bikini Bottom and its inhabitants would never be the same.


End file.
